Kalashnikov Bayonets of the World

This is a Bulgarian hybrid AK47 bayonet & scabbard. It combines the hilt design of an AK47 with a Type III blade and scabbard. It is designed to retro fit on original AK47 rifles yet uses the blade and scabbard of a 6X5 Type III insulated wire cutter design. The hilt has been redesigned to provide electrical insulation again using 6X5 technology. This bayonet & scabbard were designed for countries, groups or individuals still using the AK47s to be able to upgrade their bayonets both for commercial and collector's market. Mike

Here is my example of this beast, which I bought from a fellow collector on the old Bayonet forum back in Sept. 2007. The seller told me it was a prototype, so I paid a premium for that, as it has no acceptance stamps and you can see the 'ears' and muzzle ring are in ‘steel’.

I am not sure if these hybrid bayonets were made up for a specific contract or just for possible sales with the large quantities of surplus AK47 rifles on the market. It is interesting to see the different finishes on the exposed metal on the hilt. Mine is painted black, yours appears to be Parkerized or phosphated. Others I have seen are bare metal. Different production lots or just quality issues or rejects? Mike

Mike,

The Bulgarians still produce milled receiver AKs based on the Soviet T3. They have been updated with a variety of things like a 90 degree gas block similar to the AK74s' gas block and black plastic furniture similar to that used on the AK74. The US government is one of Bulgaria's main customers for these. The US destroyed thousands of AKs captured in Iraq because they said it was too expensive to check them all for safety - even the brand new Tabuks captured at the factory. So, to resupply the Iraqi Police and later Army with AKs the US bought brand new AKs from Bulgaria and Romania in 7.62x39 with many of the Bulgarian AKs being the T3 design.
I've known the owner of K-Var for years and was offered one of these bayonets when they first came available. As with Richard, it was at a ridiculously high price so I passed. I ended up buying a later version with the metal painted black.
I do believe the blade Richard owns is one of the first run (possibly could be called prototype) units produced.

Martin

I found this information on line, which may be of interest:
"In 2004, Arsenal Co. began contracting with the U.S. Government to supply Kalashnikov rifles to equip the reconstituted New Iraqi Army. Arsenal Co. was chosen as a supplier for two reasons: 1) Bulgaria was a coalition member supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Russia had undermined efforts to curb Saddam Hussein); and, 2) Arsenal Co's. Kalashnikov rifles are highly-regarded, probably the finest produced today.
Arsenal Co. manufactures the 7.62 mm. AR–M1, which is a hybrid incorporating up-to-date AK74 design features, such as polymer furniture, with the more durable early milled receiver and front sight block. Arsenal Co. produced this hybrid bayonet for use with the milled receiver rifles, since they were also producing the AK74 bayonet for use with stamped receiver rifles.
Black plastic scabbard has the typical AKM pattern clip-on belt hanger. However, the belt hanger is made of black nylon, instead of leather. The black nylon web belt hanger is unique to the bayonets supplied to Iraq, with Bulgarian Army bayonets retaining the leather belt hanger. The belt hanger measures 4.375 in. (111 mm.) long by 0.750 in. (19 mm.) wide.
Small quantities of this bayonet have trickled into the USA over the years via Arsenal Co.'s USA distributor, K-Var Corp".

Richard

Nice info Richard. Basically same thing I heard from Vartan (K-Var chief) several years back. I got my version of this directly from Vartan.

Martin

Martin,
always good to have confirmation.

Around the same tine, I personally knew an arms dealer here in the UK, who bought the entire stock of weapons and a lot of armour from the Bosnian Govt. His intention was to sell the AKS and support weapons to the new Iraqi army, via the US dept. of defence.... but he was undercut by new AKs from Bulgaria he told me, when I was helping him sort through the stock.

He eventually sold a lot of the weapons to the dealers for the European deactivated market and US dealers for the parts kit market. His thousands of AK magazines did still find favour with the US department of defence, who purchased them for the 'New' Afghanistan army.

Have a good weekend

Richard

Richard,

The US government in its infinite wisdom destroyed 1000s of AKs captured in Iraq including some brand new rifles from the Tabuk production line and bought Bulgarian AKs to resupply the Iraqis. Their thought was that it was less expensive to buy from the Bulgarians than to have US Armorers check each captured AK. This was great for collectors but I'm pretty sure that it cost the US tax payers a hell of a lot of money unnecessarily.

MDIvie wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:20 pm Richard,

The US government in its infinite wisdom destroyed 1000s of AKs captured in Iraq including some brand new rifles from the Tabuk production line....

A very sad day. I would've loved getting my hands on those parts kits. They would've made some great builds.